Kings XI Punjab look to continue fine form, face Royal Challegers Bangalore in Indian Premier League

Updated: 28 April 2014 11:22 IST

Royal Challengers Bangalore will have to play their best game of Indian Premier League 2014 yet if the team stands a chance of ending the winning streak of dominant Kings XI Punjab.

Written by Press Trust of India

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Dubai:

Left in disarray after consecutive losses, Royal Challengers Bangalore face the arduous task of taming the yet-to-be-beaten table-toppers Kings XI Punjab when the two sides clash in an IPL match here on Monday. (Points Table)

The contrast in their fortunes could not have been deeper going into Monday's match given that Punjab are yet to taste defeat this IPL while Bangalore have lost two matches on the trot.

Their star-studded batting line-up collapsed to the third lowest IPL total ever before Rajasthan made short work of the paltry 71-run target in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

Except for skipper Virat Kohli, none of the RCB batsmen could make any noteworthy contribution. Yuvraj Singh has been getting decent knocks but the pace of his scoring remains a concern.

Saturday's loss was a crushing one and Kohli wants to forget it as quickly as possible but it would be quite a task for his team to turn it around against Punjab, by far the most consistent team of the season so far.

Barring the game against Kolkata Knight Riders, which was won by their bowlers, Punjab's batsmen, especially Glenn Maxwell and David Miller, have been in murderous form. (KXIP vs KKR scorecard | Report | Standings)

It would require a very special effort to stop them, something that KKR's spin combo of Sunil Narine and Piyush Chawla managed to do on Saturday before KXIP produced some magic of their own with the ball through the pace pair of Sandeep Sharma and Mitchell Johnson. (Also read: Mitchell Johnson proud of all-round Kings XI Punjab)

A big positive for KXIP is senior opener Virender Sehwag's return to some form. The veteran, who has fallen out of national reckoning, is slowly getting back into the groove with some decent contributions in the past couple of matches.

But Cheteshwar Pujara is still finding his feet in the format even though his individual form has not yet hurt the team too much.